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Have buses, will travel

 
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kevlaf983



Age: 41
Joined: 28 May 2007
Posts: 99
Location: Ottawa, ON, Canada

PostPosted: Thu Nov 08, 2007 9:46 am    Post subject: Have buses, will travel Reply with quote

Have buses, will travel
Ex-Transpo boss backs expanded Transitway

By DEREK PUDDICOMBE, CITY HALL BUREAU

The argument for building light rail in Ottawa will take another hit this week.

At Wednesday's transit committee meeting, the man largely credited with being the chief architect of Ottawa's Transitway network will speak about the benefits of expanding the bus rapid transit (BRT) system rather than focusing on light rail transit (LRT).

In his presentation to the committee, John Bonsall -- OC Transpo general manager from 1981 to 1993 and the city's director of transportation planning in the 1970s -- says completing the city's Transitway should take precedence over LRT because it's faster and more cost-effective.

Bonsall's presentation suggests that a BRT system "provides a faster effective travel time than a combined bus/LRT" network and that because a BRT system eliminates the need to transfer from bus to bus, ridership will increase up to 30%.

Bonsall told the Sun yesterday that the city has to decide if it really needs an LRT system, which he says largely benefits only the tourist market.


MORE CONVENIENT

He said it's more convenient to take the bus than LRT because a BRT route is usually located closer to someone's home than an LRT station would be and having to transfer from a bus to LRT only discourages commuters.

"The problem with light rail is that you have to get to it," he said.

"It's forcing people to make a transfer."

The cost of a rail system can also be prohibitive. The city cancelled its $1-billion LRT project last year.

Bonsall suggests that the average per-kilometre cost for BRT is $3.5 million, compared with $16.5 million for an LRT system.

Bonsall said Ottawa's BRT network -- which has the highest per-capita ridership in North America -- is the envy of the world and Brisbane, Australia is modelling its system after Ottawa's, complete with a tunnel under the downtown area.

Bonsall is a big fan of boring twin tunnels under Ottawa's downtown core because that's where the city's biggest traffic congestion problems are. He said the city should have built the tunnel years ago.

'OVERDUE'

"They are probably 10 years overdue," he said.

"That will solve a lot of problems."

If the city moves forward with a tunnel, he said, it has to make provisions for the tunnel to accept LRT.

Bonsall isn't entirely against LRT -- but he said the city shouldn't spend a dime on the plan until a Transitway connecting each corner of the city is complete. He says both transit concepts can co-exist.

When the city is prepared to move forward with LRT, he said, the system has to connect with BRT and must serve the airport, downtown and the universities.

"Rail makes a lot of sense when you are moving a lot of people around like Montreal or Toronto," he said.
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